Moving Forward
by funstt
Summary: Ron and Pansy are invited back to Hogwarts to teach in order to promote unity between the houses due to their famous rivalry. Moving forward is hard, but in helping others, they might even help themselves.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hi there. I am dedicated to completing this story and have already written a fair bit of it, more so towards the end. I'd love more people to write Ron & Pansy stories and if anyone has any recommendations of good ones for me I'd love to hear them. I will update as often as I can and I hope you enjoy._**

"The rivalry between houses has unfortunately been escalating." Professor McGonagall paused briefly as she magically poured the pot of tea into her own mug, followed by her companion's mugs. "While I do not think another war will become of it, it is important that we address this immediately."

"And what are we supposed to do about it?" Ron's face wore a look of disbelief and his body language showed he might jump up out of his chair and run out of the headmaster's office at any second.

"Set an example," She replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Ron dared a brief look at the girl sat beside him, Pansy Parkinson, who was sitting patiently, hands weaved in her lap as she watched the headmaster with pursed lips. He found himself wondering why she was so calm about this considering that she'd hated him from the beginning.

"Miss Parkinson, do you have anything to add to the matter?"

After a slight change in facial expression she looked to her hands then focused on Ron, "You were an Auror, Weasley, handling the darkest of creatures, yet you seem to be scared of a little Slytherin?" She wore a smirk on her face, with her newly manicured nails lightly tapping on her forearm.

"I'm not scared!"

"Now, now," the Headmistress intervened, raising a hand up as if to silence Ron from retaliating further, "I expect you both to make appearances together throughout the school. You will be expected to be seated next to each other at meal time, as well as performing nightly rounds together all the while showing the friendliness I know you are both capable of. As your rivalry is one of the most well-known from the war, it would be an excellent example for you both to show the students that you have left the past in, well, the past."

Ron sighed and ran a hand through his hair, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he considered McGonagall's offer. Being a teacher was something he had never even thought of before, but now that the opportunity was in his grasp he couldn't seem to let the idea out of his head. Shaping the future of the wizarding world. What an honour. And to be selected over so many people by McGonagall no less. So what if he had to put up with a little "Slytherin bonding." Surely if Hermione and Draco Malfoy could start dating then he and Pansy could at least pretend to like each other for a few Semesters.

"Alright, I'm in," Ron said, standing up and reaching out his hand over the large desk to shake McGonagall's hand.

Pansy's usually well-guarded expression broke and for a minute she was completely shocked. The boy who had hated her for as long as she could remember, although to his credit she had given him so many reasons to do so, had just agreed to put the past in the past and work together with her?

She quickly recovered and nodded too, also reaching out to make the hand-shake deal.

"Ah," Minverva replied, "the students of Hogwarts are very lucky indeed. I'll see you next week for start of Term."

They both went to leave and awkwardly ran into each other. Ron stepped back and made a hand gesture for Pansy to go in front.

With an almost non-existent smile and a nod, she took the lead out of the Headmaster's office and down the staircase.

Ron followed her out, a few steps behind, heading towards an area in the grounds for them to safely apparate. He was so busy listening to her high heels click against the floor that he didn't realise she had abruptly turned and he proceeded to walk straight into her.

Gripping her shoulders, he pulled her back to standing upright and stepped a metre backwards to put some distance between them.

"Thanks," she said, brushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear as she looked up to meet his gaze, "I just wanted to let you know, I'm glad we can try to move forward. This is as awkward for me as it is for you and I guess, well, if Draco and Hermione can get past all their issues then so can we."

She shifted all her weight from her left foot to her right, waiting for a response. When it appeared she wasn't going to receive one she huffed and stalked off in front, Ron trailing behind.

After another few minutes of walking she heard him speak up.

"I'm not sure I can ever forgive you."

She paused, pursing her lips as she turned to face him. Her stance was defensive, waiting for the worst to come.

"Harry is my best friend. For you to want to hand him over to Voldemort," She flinched at the word as he spoke it, "Well, I just, I'm not sure that's something I can get past."

"I should have known you wouldn't understand," She sighed in disbelief, "Why did you say yes to this job then? Whether we like it or not we are going to have to spend a lot of time together from now on and you're going to have to make it look like you at the very least tolerate me. How do you propose we do that?"

"By pretending?" He responded, with a hint of a smirk on his face.

With that, he apparated away as she huffed in annoyance.

* * *

Ron was sealing the last of his boxes when he heard a woosh at the fire place from his living room.

"Is that the last of them then?" Harry asked, making himself at home on their couch.

"Yeah that's it I guess." He briefly glanced at Harry to see him twitching his hands together, "It's gonna be weird not being roommates aye?"

"Yeah, I'll miss living in the frat house," Ron teased, it was an in joke they had come up with based on Muggle University experiences that Harry and Hermione had explained to him, because they were both bachelor's living together, hanging out all the time and doing whatever they wanted.

"And the frat house will miss having you here," Harry agreed. They both knew what they really meant.

"Any ideas who you might get to move in in my place?" Ron asked absentmindedly, throwing a plush basketball at the hoop hanging up on his wall, it was a present from Hermione two birthdays ago.

"I wanted to talk to you about that actually," Harry began cautiously, "Malfoy's asked if he can stay here."

Ron eyed Harry, "Well you don't need my permission," he spoke up after a long while.

"Look Ron, I know you and Malfoy have been pretty civil to each other which is a great start but it's time to start moving forward. I've moved past it, he has, even _Hermione_ has, and none of us ever thought that would happen."

Ron frowned and Harry continued, "Look it's not like I'm saying you guys should start man-hugging and wearing matching t-shirts but it would be nice if you could become friends. If not for me, for Hermione."

"Yeah alright, I'll give it a shot," Ron muttered.

It wasn't that he was holding a grudge against Malfoy as such, he was simply being cautious. To Malfoys credit though he had been very civil over the last few years since the war, and even more so when he and Hermione started dating a year ago.

Harry grinned and threw a square pillow at Ron before they both started laughing at the whole situation.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was lounging on his roommate's couch in a pair of trackies and Ugg boots, trying to solve a muggle toy Hermione had given him known as a Rubix cube. Now and then he would mutter frustrated sounds. He'd been at it for hours and so far he could only make one whole side match up but none of the others were working.

Pansy laughed out loud when she heard him say "Stupid muggle game," under his breath before throwing it away from him onto the floor.

"Granger sure has done a number on you aye Draco," Pansy teased.

With a roll of his eyes, Draco sat up, "Yeah, yeah I've never heard that before Pans. I have to admit though, some of the muggle things she likes really aren't so bad. I should show you this thing they call a tee vee." He drew the syllables out, as though it was a hard word to remember.

"It plays moving pictures except you can keep playing it over and over again whenever you want," he elaborated. Pansy noted the way his eyes lit up at the subject. Never in her right mind would she have thought she would ever see that day where Draco Malfoy was willingly getting to know the muggle way of life.

"Yeah sounds good. You can show me next time I come back here to visit you."

Draco shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah about that," he trailed off, not knowing how to begin telling Pansy the truth, "I um, thought that I might move in with Potter actually."

Pansy's head snapped up to look at him, unsure of whether or not he was joking.

After a few minutes went by, Draco asked, "Pans, you there?"

"Yeah, I just, um. I guess that just really caught me off guard. I thought you would have kept living here is all."

"Well I thought about it, but it is your father's apartment after all and I thought it might be a good chance to try something new," he paused briefly, "besides, you should have seen the way Hermione lit up when she heard us discussing it. Never seen anyone so god damn excited since Fred and George Weasley released Puking Pastels, giving us all the option of getting out of class."

Pansy smirked at the memory of buying her first batch.

"I hope Weasley and I can at least try to hide our dislike for each other when we get to Hogwarts. I _cannot_ believe that I am going to be teaching potions. It's like a dream come true. I am surprised though to be honest. I mean, who would have thought anyone would ever want the daughter of a death eater, the girl who attempted to sell the boy who lived to the Dark Lord, teaching the next generation."

"Don't do that to yourself," Draco scolded, his face turning hard.

"Why not? It's what everybody thinks!"

Draco pursed his lips in a hard line and examined Pansy with narrowed eyes, "What did Weasley say to you?"

"Nothing," Pansy lied, "You and I both know that our past doesn't just go away."

"Yeah but other people, they don't understand what we went through. Merely kids, being tortured and manipulated and forced into doing things, _seeing_ things that we never should have had to do or see."

They stayed like that for a while, in a comfortable silence, the only sounds being the folding of clothes as Pansy packed up the remainder of her stuff with her wand.

"Look if I could go back and do it over, you know I would," Pansy whispered, her eyes glazing over with tears.

Draco's face softened, "I know," he whispered back, walking over and embracing her in a hug, "I would too."

* * *

Ron couldn't help but grin as he followed Harry, Hermione and Ginny into the Leaky Cauldron Saturday night. The three had been adamant about celebrating his new career and being pretty stoked about it all himself, he couldn't help but go along with them.

The two girls walked off in search of a table while Ron and Harry went to the bar to order some drinks.

After pushing through the crowd – which was always surprisingly easy when you were two of the three main heroes from the war – they ordered eight shots of Hogwarts Surprise and four glasses of Firewhisky before lifting the tray in search of the girls.

Ron paused when he realised that Hermione was sitting on Draco's lap, next to Ginny and Pansy who were chatting animatedly. Harry noticed his hesitance and frowned.

"Ron, it's time to move forward. I've moved forward. So should you." He patted his oldest friend lightly on the pack before moving over to the table. Ron sighed before following reluctantly.

"Hey Weasley," Draco greeted with a smirk, "Have you heard that I'm officially your new replacement at this 'fram house' or whatever you two were calling it?"

Ron snorted, "It's 'frat house' Malfoy. It's a muggle university thing, and yeah I heard the news. You've got some pretty big shoes to fill, and I mean that in the figurative and literal sense," he joked, holding up his large sneaker.

Pansy was amused by this, "Typical man, Weasley, always having to brag about size."

Ron glanced her way in confusion before realising her inference, blushing lightly as he took a sip of his Firewhisky.

Harry shared a glance with Draco, "So…shots?" as he passed them around to each person. He deliberately passed two each to Ron and Pansy, muttering something about them being the cause for celebration.

"Here's to," Ginny paused thoughtfully, "The next generation of Hogwarts. Shall they learn from Ron's mistakes."

They all raised their glasses, even Ron in humour and shot back the drink.

Ron was about to shoot back his second glass until Ginny stopped him, "No, you have to make another toast."

Ron and Pansy looked at each other speechless, before Pansy spoke up quietly, "To change."

He stared at her briefly before offering a small nod, "To change."


	2. Chapter 2

Sunday, Pansy awoke with a headache. Glaring at her open blind before sitting up and using her wand to summon some of the headache relief potion she always kept above her kitchen sink.

"Nice to see you up," Pansy jolted up in surprise before relaxing.

"Hello mother."

Pansy had always had an awkward relationship with her mother. It wasn't that her mother didn't try to express love or anything like that, but Pansy plain and simply couldn't forgive her for all the things she had let happen to her over the years.

Her father had been sentenced to life in Azkaban in the trials after the war, and she had never been more relieved. Her mother however, had gotten off any repercussions as she was deemed not directly involved with anything to do with the Dark Lord.

At twelve, Pansy had her first experience with the Death Eaters. Accidentally walking in to the kitchen, seeing them all standing there in their dark robes, chanting something she couldn't quite understand. She was simply trying to get a glass of water before going back to bed.

Horrified at the sight she had ran back to her room, only to be scared by her father later into not mentioning anything of what she just saw. He had explained to her that it was her heritage to take over his place in the Dark Lords circle and that one day she would understand.

No longer scared of the pretend monsters in her closet, she had then begun to grow scared of the real monsters that would often be in her house.

It wasn't until she was fifteen that she had her first physical experience with the death eaters and the Dark Lord himself.

Her mother had stood idly by, watching as her father performed the Cruciatus curse on her, in the middle of her living room no less by the order of the Dark Lord. There was no hesitancy in doing so, it was simply done as requested.

It had taken Pansy weeks to begin to stop the nightmares and the vomiting.

Hogwarts had been an outlet for her over the years, but her home life had made her too scared to ever let anyone over power her. So she had grown to crave power, to search for it and obtain it and never let it go. It explained why she had bullied people in Gryffindor, while secretly she desired to be in a loyal, loving family of students.

"Pansy?" Her mother interrupted, and she realised she had been caught up thinking of the past. She briefly shook her head, as if shaking it would shake away the thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"I said you haven't come home much lately."

Pansy had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"I don't plan on coming home, mother."

"But our arrangement is that you can live here for free as long as you come home once in a while," Pansy watched as her mother shifted uncomfortably.

"And yet, here I am, telling you that I won't be coming home. Can't you see all the boxes? I'm moving out."

Her mother, Gardenia Parkinson, scoffed, "Oh really? With what money?"

Pansy couldn't hide her annoyance, "With the money that I've earnt from my job at the Potions lab? From my Mastership? I haven't received money from you since before the war and you know that, mother."

"Except for a free apartment in the best part of the city."

"Well you will no longer have that to hold over my head now, will you." Pansy crossed her arms indignantly, she sometimes thought if her mother could change then she would be able to forgive her but it was becoming clearer that even if she did change, it was going to be a complete task to get over the way she had always treated her like a child.

"Well then, do I get to know where you're going at least?"

"Hogwarts. You're looking at the new Potions Teacher."

Gardenia couldn't hide the surprise, "But you're only 23? Aren't you a little young to be teaching?"

"No. I was asked to fill the position. Now if you can't even bother to offer me a congratulations then it would be best if you left. I have a lot of packing to do."

Pansy let out a sigh when she felt the faint pull of her wards as she temporarily allowed her mother to apparate out.

She showered, dressed and grabbed the last of her things. Releasing her strict warding of the apartment to her mother, since she would no longer be living there, she transported herself and her things to her new – or old, depending on how you looked at it – home, ready to start moving herself in.

"Professor McGonagall," Pansy greeted politely. The nerves were setting in, though she could feel the excitement running through her at the same time.

"Please dear, it is Minerva from now on." Minerva smiled warmly and gestured for Pansy to come follow her. She led her down the corridors and stopped abruptly at the ground level near a gargoyle which looked to be smiling at her.

"These will be your quarters," Minerva waved her hand and the gargoyle moved out of the way, smiling fondly as she did so. "The entrance there," she pointed to a book shelf in the right hand corner of the sitting room, "turning off to the right down the corridor will lead you directly into your new private laboratory and further down to the classroom if you keep going. Your bedroom is through those doors there," she gestured to the wall across from the gargoyle entrance, "and there is an adjoining ensuite bathroom through to the left of it. Any questions?"

Pansy stared agape at the room before her. The sitting room was quite large, definitely bigger than a bedroom but not quite as a large as a regular living room. The walls were a rich blue with a velvet, green sofa and matching sitting chair facing the fireplace. The bookshelf was already stocked with loads of potion books among others she didn't even recognise and she gasped.

"This was his wasn't it? Professor Snape?"

Minerva smiled, "I was wondering how long it would take you to notice. I am aware of your potion tutoring with Severus and the help you provided with the potions for the infirmary. He saw the promise in you back then and I know for certain he would want you to inherit his legacy her at Hogwarts."

Pansy was feeling overwhelmed. "It's such a kind thought Prof-Minerva. I'm just not sure that he would want me in here."

"The gargoyle smiled at you."

"What?"

"The gargoyle at the entrance. It smiled at you. Severus was nothing if not mischievous on his own time and he had charmed his rooms so that not just anyone could take over from him. The gargoyle sneers at anyone who is not 'worthy' – as deemed by his standards, that is."

"Wow." Pansy muttered in awe. "How exactly is that determined?"

"All I know is that I've walked many people past that corridor only for the gargoyle to forever sneer at all of them."

"And it smiles at you, too?" Pansy enquired further, her curiosity getting the best of her.

Minerva's lips turned up at the corners but she said nothing further on the topic. "Come, I'll show you the staff room."

After being shown the staff room officially and being introduced to all her former professor's with her new title as, 'Professor Parkinson,' which she still was highly amused by, she trailed back to her own rooms and followed Minerva's instructions, which was to enter once the gargoyle smiled, then she could reset the password to whatever she liked.

Pansy, amused as ever at Professor Snape, decided to keep the Gargoyle smiling but only at people that _she_ deemed worthy of entering her rooms. She put in place all the necessary wards – forever a paranoid Slytherin – which was a talent of hers second only to potions, to ensure no one could get in without her knowing. Though she highly doubted anyone would be able to break them at all without a team of curse breakers.

Pansy had never been well known as being truly powerful. A perception she had created for herself willingly. Playing dumb in school had been easy for her and well and truly needed.

Once, she had seen the death eaters under orders of the Dark Lord in her house capture a man named Loxley Belltowers who was captured purely because he was talented. At the time, she had never asked her father what the man's particular skills were, but all she knew was that she never wanted to be seen as valuable in the Dark Lord's eyes. The torture that the poor man had been put through, all for information and skills with spells wasn't worth it. She would never forget those deep brown eyes, begging her to do something. To help him.

Loxley Belltowers had left behind a legacy, a daughter named Thea, only four at the time. His wife had been killed in the crossfire when he was taken. Pansy had been distraught when she discovered Thea. At the time, there wasn't a lot she could do for the girl, but she did what she could anyway. Tracking down Loxley's parents, muggles that lived in London, she went to visit them.

Pansy hadn't stayed for long, only enough to say that she was sorry for their loss and to place her favourite pearl earrings into the older woman's hands, stressing that they could sell them and use the money to find a safe place to raise Thea, to take care of her so that she would never be harmed again. Seeing the little girl in the background, so cute and terrified. It broke Pansy's heart as the little girl looked back into her eyes, too young to comprehend where her parents had gone to.

She never did introduce herself, or go back. It was far too dangerous and she didn't want to put them in any more danger than they were already in.

Sighing and pulling herself from her thoughts, Pansy watched as the last of her things flew away into the draws of her bedroom. It really was beautiful, a large king double bed with regal posts at each of the four corners.

Venturing into the bathroom, she was greeted with grey marble tiles, a large bath and shower and a floor to ceiling mirror which she would definitely make use of. What was the point in wearing fashion if you couldn't see all of it?

Smiling to herself, she fell back onto the bed with a soft, content breath. She was Professor Parkinson, Potions Master of Hogwarts. Maybe for once she could finally redeem herself for her mistakes in the past, maybe she could even be happy.

* * *

Ron hadn't been this nervous in a while.

He ran a hand through his hair as he looked at his appearance in the mirror. Him, a teacher, at Hogwarts no less. He couldn't believe it.

He'd never admit it but he was so excited that he'd created a bunch of lesson plans for his classes.

"I can do this." He said to himself in the mirror.

Nodding and taking a deep breath, he grabbed his wand and walked to the great hall for his very first dinner at the teachers table.

Walking through the corridors, he couldn't help but feel a wave of nostalgia as he remembered all the amazing times he'd had here. Sure, there were terrible times too, but he was focusing on all the good memories instead. There were students walking throughout the halls and he supressed a grin, noticing that they all tended to part out of the way for him to walk through.

"Ahh." He entered the teachers table from the left and looked for his designated chair. Minerva had saved a spot for him immediately to her right so he moved towards it and slowly took a seat, savouring the feeling of his first time up at the table.

"I can totally see why Snape entertained himself by glaring at all the students from here. You can see everything!" Ron was really excited to see all the students filing in below him on the floor.

Pansy snorted, she had just taken her seat next to his, "Yeah I have a feeling a lot of things amused Professor Snape." She paused for a moment, taking in the surroundings and the feeling of sitting at the teachers table, "This is kind of awesome."

Ron nodded, still staring in disbelief as he watched the last of the students file in.

Minerva clinked the goblet in her hands and Ron felt his stomach twinge with excitement. The welcoming ceremony was about to begin. His first one as a teacher. He still couldn't believe it.

"Ahem. Please let the sorting ceremony begin."

Ron looked to the back of the hall to see Hagrid walking in with a line of terrified first years following him, all looking around in wonder.

He heard Pansy snort beside him, "I hope we never looked that scared."

He hummed in agreeance and nodded, "Nah, I was too cool to be scared. You probably were."

"Pfft, I doubt that." She mumbled under her breath.

They watched as the first few students were called up and clapped when they were sorted into each house. It was relatively even to start with, one per house seemed to be how it was going.

"Thea Belltowers." Hagrid's voice boomed out and Pansy spilt her goblet of wine, jumping at the sound of the girl's name.

Ron gave her a strange look but she ignored him and watched in awe as a short girl with beautiful brown wavy hair stepped forward. Her eyes were wide and she looked to be nervous. Pansy was clinging so hard to the goblet that her knuckles were beginning to turn white, waiting to see where the girl would be placed.

The hat had been on her head for a minute until it yelled out loudly, "Slytherin!"

Thea sat there for a moment longer before Hagrid coaxed her out of the chair and towards the Slytherin house table. Pansy watched as the girl reluctantly walked to sit down next to another first year girl who had been sorted the turn previously.

Pansy felt relief. The girl was okay, she had been sorted and most importantly, she was alive.

Ron was still eyeing her but seemed to let it go as he went back to watching the remaining first years be sorted into their houses.

"Welcome to all our new students, and welcome back to everyone else. I hope all of you had a wonderful summer break. I'd like to introduce two new staff members to Hogwarts. You might recognise them and I trust you will treat them with the respect they both deserve. We are all very lucky to have them here to impart their knowledge. Professor Pansy Parkinson – a Slytherin in her time here – and our new Potions Master. She is the youngest person yet to receive such an honour and had the honour of being taught individually by the late Severus Snape in her time as a student."

Minerva paused while the students clapped, some of them simply staring with their mouths wide open as the words sunk in. She was taught by the most complex and achieving spy of all time. According to Harry Potter, he was the reason they were all here today.

"Secondly, Ronald Weasley – a Gryffindor in his time here – and our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. As I'm sure you're all aware, he has been a Senior Auror for the last four years, and has extensive experience in fighting the dark arts in the war."

The clapping was crazy, some of the students even cheered for him and Ron felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

"Please make them feel welcome."

Pansy, clever as ever, made a big show of clapping for Ron, smiling brightly at him and then offering him a cheers with her goblet. He looked confused at first until she widened her eyes in gesture and he remembered the part they were expected to play. He grinned back and met her toast before they both sipped and laughed.

Minerva hid a smile behind her cup of tea. This was going to work. She just knew it.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Apologies for the problems with formatting for the first two chapters. This has now been fixed up to include the appropriate line breaks. Sorry for the confusion! Thanks for reading.**_

Pansy paced outside the staff room door for a couple of steps after she arrived.

Huffing, she mumbled under her breath, "this is ridiculous," and taking a deep breath she entered the room.

"Hi," she said, ringing her hands together and looking for a seat for the duration of the meeting.

Looking around, she noticed that Ron was already there as well as almost all of the other teachers. They were just waiting on Minerva to enter the room.

"How are you two holding up?" Asked Professor Sprout kindly from across the room.

"Oh, yeah I'm okay. I guess I'm just a little nervous is all." That was an understatement of the year, Pansy thought to herself.

"Yeah, nervous is a good word for it," Ron agreed, he kept rubbing his hands up and down the top of his thighs and was jigging his feet up and down from the ground.

Professor Sprout chuckled, "Don't worry, all teachers feel that way before their first day. It's normal. And you two will be fine, I'm sure you won't let the little buggers push you around."

Pansy grinned, if that was how they got to refer to the students in their private time she was definitely going to enjoy the staff meeting.

Hagrid joined in from across the room, "Y'er 'll be 'right. No nee' to worry 'bout it."

Ron let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He could do this. He just had to get through the first class.

Minerva walked into the room greeting them all collectively.

"Hello everybody, I trust you all had an excellent break." The collective murmurs of agreement from the group sounded and she continued, "Welcome to the first staff meeting of the year. Now first things first, I'd like to talk about restricted section security. Mrs Pince, as you know, has always looked after the books to the best of her ability but the more experienced and troublemaking," she coughed and looked pointedly at Ron, "students still tend to be able to get in. I'd like one of you to please take the time ward it and then I shall test it to deem it an appropriate level of warding."

"I'll do it," Pansy offered quickly, "I'm really good with wards and I can create certain exceptions to the wards such as the people in this room and if you ever have anyone from outside of Hogwarts that you wish to have access it is easily changeable as long as I'm in the castle."

Ron scoffed, "There is no way you'd be better at wards than I am – I'm a qualified auror."

Pansy huffed indignantly, "Don't for one second act like you had any idea how good I was at our school work Weasley, or that your auror training makes you a better Wizard."

"Pretty sure you were no brain child." He saw the rage building on her face and crossed his arms, his tone becoming condescending, "Okay, I'm sure that you're an average ward maker. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Rolling her eyes she looked sharply to the other occupants of the room, "I'd like to propose a competition, if any of you can break my wards that I _will_ be putting up on the restricted section, then I'll take them down and Weasley can put up the wards. When you realise that you can't break them, come see me Weasley and I will happily slam my door in your face."

"Fine," Ron rolled his eyes, "If that's the way you want to play it, then I'll ward my office door. For anyone of you who can break it, you'll get the nice bottle of Ogden's finest that will be sitting on the table."

The professors sitting around them started to look a bit uncomfortable and Minerva watched in exasperation. "That is enough, the both of you," eyeing them both sternly, "You can have your competition, it ends on Friday and I will decide who can ward the restricted section. And I'm only indulging you because it will be good trial practice. If staff can't break in then the students will definitely not be able to."

Ron and Pansy both nodded but kept the hard expressions on their faces as they glared each other.

Minerva shook her head briefly, "Now, there are other matters we have to discuss."

After a short go around the room with potential issues the staff could foresee in the coming year, Minerva turned her attention back to both Ron and Pansy.

"Are you two ready for your classes this morning?"

Pansy nodded absently while Ron spoke up, sounding almost panicked, "Yep. I think so. I've done a tonne of lesson plans and practical work notes to make sure I know roughly what level I'll be teaching to each class. I've thoroughly read the book too and made notes in the margins and I even asked Harry to be a dick to me and practiced giving him detention."

Everyone in the room stared.

"What?" Ron asked, his ears turning red. "Is there something on my face?"

Pansy replied on their behalf, "It's more like no one can believe that you actually did all of that."

This time his ears went red from anger, "Hey! I can be prepared if I want to be. And I'd bet I've done more work than you have for it all!"

Minerva sighed. It was only the first day and they already couldn't stop riling each other up.

"Alright now that that's sorted, good luck today to all of you and as always, please let me know if you need any assistance. Dismissed." She spoke quick enough to ensure Ron and Pansy didn't continue to argue after she had finished. Both had resigned, quickly gathering their things and ready to leave.

"Before you leave, Mr Weasley and Miss Parkinson, remember that outside of these walls you are to be the epitome of friendship and bonding."

They both nodded and thanked her before leaving the room.

"I suppose we should walk to class together then," Pansy clicked her tongue.

"I guess so," Ron replied, putting on a smirk as he gestured for her to lead the way.

They had begun to pass students in the hall, many of which were gaping at the two of them.

"Did you really do all that preparation?" Pansy asked, trying to find something to talk about so they looked to be friendly with each other.

Ron smiled sheepishly, "Yeah. I was nervous. But to be honest, I was also really excited. Shh don't tell anyone."

Pansy smiled, wondering if he was just acting or not. Probably acting, she thought with distaste. It was a shame they couldn't really get along. Although, she supposed that there were few people could annoy her as much as Ronald Weasley could so perhaps it was for the best.

"Yeah, me too. It's just hard to know what to expect. What if they hate us?"

"I know! Or what if they just ignore everything we say and they don't learn anything."

"Or worse, what if they all try their best and still don't learn anything." Pansy grimaced as she said it and Ron laughed at her.

"True. They are all pretty bad scenarios."

They had reached the Defence classroom and they stopped outside, Ron turning to face her.

"Well, good luck I suppose."

"Yeah," she replied shyly, "You too."

With a slight shake of his head he walked into the classroom. She watched him for a moment before heading further down towards the dungeons and taking some deep breaths to level her head.

Her first class was a first year class. It seemed like a good place to begin. They were already seated, she could tell as no one was outside in the hallway. With a slight giggle and a smirk to herself she schooled her face to be serious and pushed open the doors with a bang, letting them slam, her robes billowing behind her.

"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class."

Walking to the front, she stood to face her new class and smiled wryly at the terrified looks on their faces.

"At least not until fifth year," she continued, "Please open your books to page 27 then grab a chopping board and some beetle's from the jar at the front of the room."

The first years all jumped into gear quickly, rushing to make sure they had everything they needed and didn't get into any trouble.

Pansy smiled, this was going to be fun.

* * *

Ron smiled as he reached the front of the room of his class of fourth year Gryffindor and Slytherin students. Many of them were gaping at him and he tried not to let the blush that he could feel creeping up break onto his face.

"I'm Ronald Weasley. My sole job is to teach you how to defend yourselves. In my class you will learn about dark creatures and dark spells. It won't be easy, but I can guarantee you'll learn a lot and even have some fun."

The class seemed to relax a little bit as he spoke, something that he felt comforted by too.

"Today, I'd like you to pair up with someone from the other house."

The students groaned and he heard one of them whisper, "At least we'll be able to attack them without getting into trouble."

"25 points from Gryffindor. What's your name?" Ron asked, trying to portray the stern tone Minerva had always used on him and Harry when they were in trouble.

"Matthew, uh, Matthew Green."

"Right, Mr. Green," Ron opened up the discussion to ensure the whole class was listening, "We do not use class time as an excuse to attack other students. And let this be known to all of you, if I see anything like that happening in my class or the halls it will be reported to your heads of houses and you will receive detention as well as loss of points."

Matthew had the decency to look properly chastised and Ron inwardly fist pumped. He'd done it. And taking points was fun, he thought, he could see why all the teachers took so much pleasure out of it.

"Once you have your partner, you will be practicing shield charms. And no, you will not be firing off offensive attacks, you will group up with another partner pair who will do the offensive, and you need to practice shielding your partner – not yourselves. This can take a level of trust, but it's imperative in the field. Knowing how to shield someone else is a vital part of defence and all of you will leave class today knowing how to do just that."

The class had gone rather well, he thought, as the students packed up.

"I want a half page essay on the importance of shielding a team mate on my desk next Monday. Dismissed."

He had just started flicking through his parchment binder – Hermione's idea – to prepare for his next lesson when heard a voice.

"Assigning work on the first day, Mr Weasley? I'm impressed. And taking points too, that really is an achievement in itself," Minerva's eyes twinkled, Ron laughed at her teasing.

"True, but It was warranted and to be honest," he leaned in closer and whispered to her with a wink, "It was rather liberating, I'd say."

Minerva chuckled, "Well I think you did a marvellous job. I knew you had nothing to worry about."

Ron blushed, "Thank you."

He watched Minerva leave the classroom and ran a hand through his hair. He'd done it, the first class was over and long gone were his nerves. Teaching felt right. Like it was what he was meant to do in life. An odd thought, considering before he was called to meet with the Headmistress he had never given it one thought.

* * *

Dinner in the great hall was loud, with students bursting from the excitement of their first day of classes.

Pansy came clicking in her high heels and smiled brightly, making a big show of waving at Ron from the entrance to the teachers table to where he was sitting. He smiled back and gestured for her to hurry up. Out the corner of his eyes he could see the Gryffindor he'd taken points from in class, Mr. Green, watching him with interest and he knew then that what he and Pansy had been asked to do was important.

"How was your first day?" He asked before she had even had a chance to sit down.

Pansy beamed, "Brilliant. You?"

"Brilliant," he agreed, laughing lightly.

"Wine?"

"Oh yeah," she said immediately, to which he laughed at again and tapped her goblet with his wand.

The clinked glasses in 'cheers' as they ate and told each other about their first experience teaching.

Ron nearly had wine come back out his nose when Pansy told him about her first year class and her impersonation of Snape at the beginning.

"Wow, you've got balls."

She laughed, "True. You should have seen the look on their faces. I think they thought I was going to give them all detention if they so much as moved an eyebrow."

"Have you taken points yet?" He asked, trying to hide his excitement.

"Only five points from a fifth year student who got the answer to my pop quiz wrong."

Ron grimaced, "You gave them a pop quiz in their first lesson with you?"

Pansy blushed, "It was only a short one. I just wanted to see if they had been paying attention!"

Ron shook his head, "Wow, and I thought I was bad giving out homework."

"Did you? I never thought of it," Pansy laughed, "Well I suppose we both did pretty well regardless then. Go us."

He raised his glass to clink with her raised one again and both took a sip.

"I took 25 points today."

Pansy breathed in sharply, "25? For what? Oh don't tell me it was a Slytherin," she crossed her arms expectantly.

"What? No, it was a Gryffindor. He'd decided he wanted use my class to attack Slytherin students. I'd paired them up with members of the opposite house you see, but the ultimate goal was to get them to work as a team to shield each other."

Pansy looked at him in awe, "That's…that's brilliant Weasley."

Giving her a sheepish grin, he laughed, "Thanks."

Pansy continued to eat her dinner, thinking about the fact that he had chastised a Gryffindor without even blinking. Yes, attacking a student was a terrible act, but she had a feeling that the student in question was probably just being macho and wouldn't have actually done it. The fact that Ron was taking this seriously surprised her. She wondered if he'd always been this rational.

With Minerva watching her, she smiled at the older woman and took another sip of wine. After all, wine made everything better, and she felt her stomach twinge in excitement of what her second day of teaching would bring.


	4. Chapter 4

Ron crept quietly through the second floor corridor, the tip of his wand stretched out in front of him as the only source of light.

A creaking sound was heard and he froze, then slowly turned around to look behind him. There was nothing there.

Letting out a relieved sigh, he turned back around and headed around the closest corner, only to hear a light squeal and see a light similar to his own.

"Weasley," Pansy hissed, "You scared me half to death!"

"I scared you? Well what were you doing creeping around the hallways at this time of night," he glared, crossing his arms.

Ron watched her shift uncomfortably before her glare hardened, "Me? You're clearly creeping around too!"

This time it was Ron's turn to look uncomfortable. It was two AM in the morning, he certainly hadn't planned on running into anyone, let alone her.

Thinking quickly, he stammered, "I was just stretching my legs. I'm heading back to my quarters now."

"Oh. Right. Well, me too actually."

There was an awkward silence as they looked awkwardly around the corridor.

"Put that light out," one of the portraits called angrily as Ron's wand tip got particularly close to him.

Ron grimaced and muttered an apology, pointing his light directly at the ground again.

"Well, I should, uh, head back then," Pansy suggested, her arms clapping together lightly behind her back.

Ron stepped around her, "Yes, as should I."

There was another awkward pause.

"Well, see ya," Pansy uttered and started walking briskly away in the other direction.

Ron let out the breath he had been holding. She could not catch him where he was going, he'd never hear the end of it. He practically ran to his destination, the Restricted Section, and smirked as he pressed his hand lightly against the ward magic that Pansy had protected it with. This would be a piece of cake.

If he hadn't have been so smug, he may have noticed that Pansy wasn't going in the direction of her quarters at all.

* * *

Ron huffed as he headed in the direction of the morning's staff meeting. It was finally Friday and considering he'd been up half the night trying to break into Pansy's wards, he was feeling pretty sorry for himself with the lack of sleep and the fact that he hadn't been able to break into them.

He got through every single layer, too, except for one and he couldn't figure out why. His pride was hurt and he couldn't fathom how she'd managed to best him. Wards were one of his greatest strengths – he'd been put through extensive training on implementation of wards and had loads of practical experience when he was an auror.

Slowing his steps as he approached the door, he took a deep breath, frowned quickly, and then schooled his expression into that of a more neutral look.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Weasley," Minerva greeted with a twinkle as he entered the room, "Now that we are all here, it is time for us to test the wards on our little competition. Did anyone give it a try?"

Minerva smiled as all the staff members, with the exception of Hagrid, mumbled affirmations. Clearly none of them were too thrilled that they had not been able to get through.

"Did anyone succeed?" Minerva looked at Ron, expecting him to have broken through but the expression on his face said otherwise.

With confusion, her head snapped to Pansy.

Pansy was sitting on the chair to her left, casually perusing a book, seemingly not even paying attention to the meeting. Minerva knew better though, the smirk the girl was trying to hide made it clear that perhaps Ron had not been able to get through, but Pansy had succeeded.

As expected, Pansy waited a few minutes before snapping her book closed with a resounding 'pop' and smiled, "Well, I'm not too sure about you lot but I, for one, enjoyed a glass of Ogden's finest last night."

Ron looked up instantly, mouth hanging open slightly, "No you didn't, there's no way."

"Really? Did you check your office this morning?"

Ron began to say that he did, in fact check his office, but with the late night he had not had the chance, "No." He pursed his lips.

"Of course you didn't, if you had you would know that I broke into your wards within half an hour. Thanks for the present, Weasley." Pansy looked so smug sitting there, a challenging glint in her eye.

"It's not possible. You're not even trained! I got through every single one of your layers. All except for one." Ron said, he was clearly irritated.

"I knew you would."

"What?"

"I said, I knew you would – get through all the layers except for one that is." Pansy replied.

"How could you possible know that?" Ron asked, leaning forward in his chair and letting his elbows rest on his knees. He was just plain curious now, as were all the staff around them, who were watching the two as if it were a tennis match.

"It's quite simple really. Wards are made to block out groups of people. It's what everyone does, they block layers for 'underage students,' or 'dark arts,' or 'anyone who's not me.' These are all layers that are expected. Even the tougher layers are still expected if you're experienced enough. I didn't just block groups of people. I specifically blocked you."

"You, what?" Ron asked incredulous, "I've never heard of anyone doing that before."

Pansy smiled wryly, "To be fair, neither had I, until recently. It's another one of my 'Severus Snape' tricks."

A small smile was tugging at Ron's lips and Pansy took the opportunity to continue, "That's talent though, really. He's still teaching from the grave."

There was laughter throughout the room and even Ron chuckled mildly at his own joke.

"Looks like I'll be continuing to ward the Restricted Section then."

"Not so fast," Minerva interrupted, "Firstly, great job to both of you. Secondly, you will place the wards together."

Ron grimaced but knew better than to say anything. Even Pansy let out a light huff at the announcement.

Satisfied that she had the meeting back under control, Minerva continued with some minor announcements before dismissing them.

"Want to walk together?" Ron offered as they exited the room, back in acting mode, Pansy thought and resisted rolling her eyes, opting to smile and nod instead.

"I'll have to remember that trick," Ron said with a smile as they walked through the crowds of students.

"Yeah, it was pretty clever of him. I'm actually living in his quarters now."

"Really? Are they completely black and depressing?"

Pansy laughed, "No, they are actually very luxurious. It's surprising really, though I'm very lucky – I did get to inherit all of his top potion books. Some of them would have to be the only copy available in existence."

"Wow, I bet Hermione would love to get her hands on some of them."

"True, I'd think anyone interested in potions would be. His warding was very complicated, I'd doubt any of them would be able to be taken out of the room at all. Apparently Minerva couldn't get any of the previous professors into his chambers to begin with."

"And it allowed you?"

"Yeah. I'm not entirely sure why but I'm certainly not complaining. They are very nicely decorated. What are yours like?"

Ron smiled, "They are the coolest thing ever. I love the sitting room, the elves have a constant selection of biscuits for me. Clearly they've been informed of how hungry I am all the time."

Pansy laughed and stopped as they reached Ron's Defence classroom again. "Well, I hope you have a good day."

"Thanks, you too, I'm looking forward to telling you about my next class at dinner tonight, I'm showing the third years a Boggart."

Pansy felt her heart warm. It was an incredibly sweet thing to say. The feeling lessened when she realised there were a few students standing behind her. She smiled at them then made sure she played her part

"I'm really looking forward to it too. I'm teaching my sixth years to brew Felix Felicis this afternoon so we can trade stories."

She made a show of waving as she backed away, then eventually turned to walk to her class.

He could be very frustrating at times. Sometimes she wondered if they would ever actually be friends or if he'd always be pretending.

At least it was tolerable, regardless of how much they argued when there were no students around, he did have to be nice to her in the halls and though he irritated her beyond no end she was really enjoying teaching, so if she had to put up with Ronald Weasley then so be it.

Pansy reached her first year Slytherin Gryffindor class and entered, as she had been doing with all her first and second year introductory classes that week.

As the students got up to get the assigned equipment and ingredients, Pansy watched the young girl she had been both eager and nervous to see. Thea was one of the last few in the line to get her things and Pansy could tell she looked a little nervous for her first class.

"Okay, now there are multiple parts of the beetle that are used in potion making. Ensuring that you are cutting all ingredients precisely is very important because when careless, the potion you are attempting to make could very easily become something completely different. Whether that's sludge, a melted cauldron or a dangerous explosion depends on a little something I call luck. However, this is why I'll be teaching you the correct way to prepare ingredients, so that you can be best prepared for the art that is potion making. Can anyone tell me the parts that you can use in potion making from a beetle?"

No hands were raised and Pansy smiled gently, hoping to give one of the first years the confidence to raise their hand. After a minute, Pansy watched as Thea raised her hand timidly into the air.

"Miss Belltowers?" The girl looked a little taken aback that Pansy had known her name but didn't comment on it.

"The eyes?" Thea answered almost as if asking a question.

Pansy smiled, "Correct, five points to Slytherin."

The class ended with the loud chattering of the students and Pansy started to prepare for her afternoon class.

"Excuse me Miss Parkinson?"

Pansy looked up from her page to the girl in front of her desk.

"Miss Belltowers, what can I do for you?"

The girl flushed, "Nothing. I-I just wanted to say t-that I enjoyed your class."

Pansy stared at the girl in awe, "I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I am looking forward to teaching you"

Thea nodded shyly and turned away reluctantly, eventually giving in and grabbing her books before heading out the door. Pansy got the feeling that she had more to say but would let the girl come to her when she was ready. Perhaps she was nervous about the course work. Smiling to herself, she wrote the notes for her next class on the board with her wand.

* * *

Ron could really get used to this whole teaching thing. He even enjoyed the trouble makers in some of his classes, likely, he mused, because they reminded him of himself in his time at Hogwarts.

He had the classroom cleared, similar to how Lupin had had it set up back in his own third year Boggart Defence class.

He smiled at the memory. Oh how far he had come. How they had all come.

Ron had always loved Lupin, he was a great teacher and he'd always put in a great deal of effort with he, Harry and Hermione, just to check in or spend time with them. It made them feel really important. Ron, Harry and Hermione were all close with Teddy Lupin, who was six years old, and spent a fair bit of time with him, often telling him stories about his parents.

Ron had gotten the idea from Pansy's entrance that re-enacted Snape to create a class in honour of Lupin. Ron hoped that out there somewhere, Lupin was laughing at him.

Waiting until the whole class was present, he started.

"Good morning class, I'm Professor Weasley and I will be your Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher."

"Are you really a war hero?" A boy with blonde hair asked from the back of the room.

"Oh, well-" Ron tried to begin but was interrupted again by a girl with brown, curly hair.

"Of course he is. Everybody knows that he helped Harry Potter defeat You-Know-Who."

Ron couldn't quiet the talk as other students had begun to put their two cents in.

"Yeah he and Harry Potter have been best friends since their first year."

"And Hermione Granger," Another girl commented.

"She's so pretty," a boy sighed, Ron couldn't really see him because the girl standing in front of him was a lot taller.

"Okay enough," Ron interrupted loudly enough to drown out the interruptions.

"Do you hate Pansy Parkinson?" the first boy who had started the conversation questioned and Ron's brow furrowed. What was going on?

"Okay class, we will not dwell on the topic but to curb your curiosity, yes I am best friends with Harry Potter – ever since the first day we met on the Hogwarts Express actually," He said proudly, "And my other best friend is Hermione Granger. We stood up for what we believed in and fought against Voldemort – yes you can say his name, because fear of a name, only increases a fear of the things itself. Professor Parkinson and I are friends."

"But you hated her at school didn't you?" The taller girl in the front asked.

Ron hesitated, one benefit as an auror had been learning to think before he spoke. Most of the time, at least. He decided this conversation could benefit what they were trying to achieve amongst the houses.

"Professor Parkinson and I were your typical Gryffindor and Slytherin rivals. We were competitive and we had different friend groups. Similar to the rivalry between Harry and Draco Malfoy – who I'm sure you've all heard of." He saw a few of the kids roll their eyes and decided to take a different approach.

"You have to understand that back then things were different. There was a war raging outside these walls and we all had different parts to play. People were scared and rightfully so. But now that the war is over, so is the rivalry."

Ron grinned before adding, "Well, not completely, obviously you will all still want your teams to win the house cup. But now you have this amazing opportunity to socialise with anyone you want to socialise with, regardless of house colours."

The class were silent this time and Ron took the opportunity to begin his class.

"Now, in this wardrobe, I have a Boggart."

The gasps were heard throughout the students and Ron smirked to himself. This was going to be a funny class.


End file.
